The invention is a one-piece fitted bed sheet and mattress pad.
In the past, mattress pads and bed sheets have been manufactured and sold as separate items. In a typical prior art mattress pad, the pad is made from a conventional piece of quilted material. That is, a fiberfill batt is quilted to a backing fabric and a top layer. All three pieces, the backing fabric, fiberfill batt and top layer, are joined together at the quilting points. The conventional mattress pad is then placed on a mattress and covered over by a bed sheet.
The prior art mattress pads and bed sheets may be fitted or not. A non-fitted mattress pad is typically simply rectangular in shape and overlies the top of the mattress. The dimensions of the rectangle are typically slightly less than the dimensions of the top of the mattress. A non-fitted sheet is typically simply rectangular in shape, but the dimensions of the rectangle are larger than the dimensions of the top of the mattress to enable the sheet to be wrapped around and tucked under the mattress.
Fitted bed sheets and mattress pads, on the other hand, are typically rectangular but have their corners sewn together to give them more or less the shape of a shallow open box so that they will conform more closely to the top and sides of the mattress. In addition, fitted sheets and mattress pads typically have elastic on opposite ends to enable the fitted sheet or mattress pad to remain in place on the mattress.
There is a need for a one-piece fitted bed sheet and mattress pad. The total amount of material required for a one-piece fitted sheet and mattress pad is substantially the same as that required for a fitted mattress pad alone. This means that a consumer can now have a sheet as well as a mattress pad for about the same price one might pay for a mattress pad alone. In addition, the convenience of handling a one-piece fitted sheet and mattress pad in servicing the bed provides a substantial time saving not only in making up the bed, but in laundering as well.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear here and after.
For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.